The Weird Week in Review

Twins Born in Different Years

Madisen Carin Lewis was born at 11:59 PM last Friday. Her twin brother, Aiden Everette Lewis was born a minute later by cesarean section in Rockford, Illinois. That one minute difference means that the twins were born in two different years! The timing was not an accident. The twin's mother, Ashley Fansler, was not due until January 28th, but doctors decided a cesarian would be best to avoid complications. Once the surgery was scheduled on Friday, doctors approached Fansler with the possibility of delivering the babies in different years. She and the babies' father Brandon Lewis couldn't turn down the opportunity.

He Had to Steal to Pay for His Defense

Michael Elias of San Antonio, Texas has been arrested several times for a string of burglaries over several months. His latest arrest was for two burglaries, one in June and the other in November, in which Elias fingerprints were found at the scenes.

Missing Man Found Next Door

An unnamed 81-year-old man went missing in Arbroath, Scotland. His wife became worried and his stepson called police in Tayside. Two Coastguard helicopters were dispatched to search the seaside. A couple of hours later, the man was found -in his next door neighbor's house! He had apparently let himself in. No one thought to check the house until after the helicopter search had begun.

Romania Makes Witchcraft an Official Occupation

The witches of Romania are ready to put a curse on government officials, since they made their trade an official category of job. The reason- to collect income taxes! Witch, along with astrologer, fortune teller, embalmer, valet, and driving instructor are all now officially recognized professions and liable for a 16% income tax, as well as contributions to health and pension plans. Only a couple of decades ago, people were imprisoned in Romania for practicing witchcraft. This new plan aims to be more profitable for the state, unless the hexes cast by angry witches prove to work.

Killer Photobomb

Reynaldo Dagsa, a law enforcement official in the Philippines, snapped a picture of his family outside of their home in Manila on New Years Eve. Immediately afterward, he was fatally shot amid the sounds of holiday firecrackers. The family gave the camera to police, who found the gunman clearly visible in the last picture taken, aiming a gun at Dagsa. The picture was published in the newspaper and led to the arrest of a car thief who may have been seeking revenge against Dagsa for ordering his arrest.

Plastinator will be Plastinated

Gunther von Hagens, the German doctor turned artist behind the "Body Worlds" exhibit of actual human bodies preserved in plastic, has been diagnosed with terminal Parkinson's disease. However, the 66-year-old Hagens has decided he will welcome visitors to his touring exhibit even after death -as a exhibit himself.
"[My wife] will plastinate my body ... [and] my plastinated corpse will then stand in a welcoming pose at the entrance of my exhibition," he said.

The process Hagen calls plastination involves using a synthetic resin to freeze exposed organs, muscles, and skeletons in lifelike positions for display.

Man Finds his Double on Facebook

Graham Comrie of Aberdeen thought someone was impersonating him when he heard of a Facebook account of a Graham Cormie of Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Friends even thought Cormie was using Comrie's photos, since they looked so much alike! But this was no identity theft -just an eerie set of coincidences. Besides their names, the two men are both professional photographers, have redheaded wives, have been married 24 years, and have daughters who own Lhasa Apso dogs. The men are only two years apart in age -and live only ten miles from each other. They checked and found that they are not related, just new friends.

Miss Cellania has written for mental_floss since 2007. She is also the managing editor at Neatorama and keeps a small humor blog called Miss Cellania. In her spare time, she is raising a frightening number of children in a small Kentucky town.